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3.0
‘Bad luck’s coming, I can feel it in me water, …’
This novel commences on Friday the 13th of February 1948 and chronicles a year in the life of the Gordon family who live in Australia Street in inner city Sydney. This particular day is Hannah Gordon’s thirty-sixth birthday, and her daughter Allie’s sixteenth. It’s a full moon as well, and Hannah doesn’t need Grandma Ade’s warning about bad luck.
Hannah Gordon has two teenage daughters, Janet and Allie, and a younger foster son Hal. She loses her job when the government passes a law forbidding women to drive taxis. Around the same time, her husband Tom leaves her and moves in with the widow of his old friend. Tom, suffering after his involvement in the Second World War, thinks that his friend’s widow needs his help more than Hannah does.
The next year is fairly eventful for the Gordons, their extended family and friends. There’s a wealth of detail about life in Australia Street, and the portrayal of war veterans who experienced the bombing in Darwin acts as a reminder of this aspect of World War Two. The changed roles of women as a consequence of World War Two becomes as issue after the war when ex-servicemen need jobs as Hannah discovers when she loses her job.
I enjoyed this novel: the people depicted are mainly the ‘battlers’ and if occasionally it all became too melodramatic well, I didn’t really mind. I was happy to read about their lives and grateful that I wasn’t living them. Some of the dialogue jerked me out of the flow at times – and then I’d remember having heard speech just like it.
‘We got on with it. That’s what we had to do.’
‘Australia Street’ is Ann Whitehead’s second novel. Her first, ‘Blackwattle Road’ was written under the name of Ann Charlton. Her third, ‘The House Across the Road’ was published in 2010. I’ve added both to my reading list.
Jennifer Cameron-Smith
This novel commences on Friday the 13th of February 1948 and chronicles a year in the life of the Gordon family who live in Australia Street in inner city Sydney. This particular day is Hannah Gordon’s thirty-sixth birthday, and her daughter Allie’s sixteenth. It’s a full moon as well, and Hannah doesn’t need Grandma Ade’s warning about bad luck.
Hannah Gordon has two teenage daughters, Janet and Allie, and a younger foster son Hal. She loses her job when the government passes a law forbidding women to drive taxis. Around the same time, her husband Tom leaves her and moves in with the widow of his old friend. Tom, suffering after his involvement in the Second World War, thinks that his friend’s widow needs his help more than Hannah does.
The next year is fairly eventful for the Gordons, their extended family and friends. There’s a wealth of detail about life in Australia Street, and the portrayal of war veterans who experienced the bombing in Darwin acts as a reminder of this aspect of World War Two. The changed roles of women as a consequence of World War Two becomes as issue after the war when ex-servicemen need jobs as Hannah discovers when she loses her job.
I enjoyed this novel: the people depicted are mainly the ‘battlers’ and if occasionally it all became too melodramatic well, I didn’t really mind. I was happy to read about their lives and grateful that I wasn’t living them. Some of the dialogue jerked me out of the flow at times – and then I’d remember having heard speech just like it.
‘We got on with it. That’s what we had to do.’
‘Australia Street’ is Ann Whitehead’s second novel. Her first, ‘Blackwattle Road’ was written under the name of Ann Charlton. Her third, ‘The House Across the Road’ was published in 2010. I’ve added both to my reading list.
Jennifer Cameron-Smith
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